Conservatives, liberals debate Jesus' vision of the American economy

Does the Bible favor a free-market system, or is the Republican budget plan an affront to the Gospel?

Conservative evangelicals and liberal religious leaders seem to have found a new battleground - Jesus and the economy, according to a story on National Public Radio.

According to the story, after the U.S. House of Representatives passed its budget last month, liberal religious leaders said the Republican plan, which lowered taxes and cut some services to the poor, was an affront to the Gospel — and particularly Jesus' command to care for the poor.

Not so, says Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, who chairs the House Budget Committee. He told Christian Broadcasting Network last week that it was his Catholic faith that helped shape the budget plan. In his view, the Catholic principle of subsidiarity suggests the government should have little role in helping the poor, the story said.

The best thing that government can do, he said, is get out of the way.